The Inspiral Carpets (the name was taken from a
clothing store outside Manchester), founded
by Graham Lambert, had been
around since 1982 in several different line-ups (Craig Gill and Clint Boon were the next
two of the band's final line-up that joined the band, both of
them im 1986). One thing, however, was consistent even in those
early years of the band: they're from Oldham, England,
over and out.
The early Inspirals basically played garage-punk and, being
nowhere near a major label record deal, never achieved more than
a bunch of demo tapes, such as Waiting For Ours (including
Slow Suicide and a very early version of Garage Full Of
Flowers) and Songs Of Shallow Intensity (featuring You're
gonna miss me when I'm gone). These, however, quickly gained
them a good reputation and a huge following in and around
Manchester. In the middle of the "Madchester"
Eighties Rave Scene, they had soon become the third power
after the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays. Their
infamous cow logo also provided
publicity for the band.
In 1987, things slowly began to get even better for the
five-piece, consisting of Steve Holt (vocals), Clint Boon (organ), Graham Lambert (guitar),
Dave Swift (bass) and Craig Gill
(drums) at the time. After the release of Garage Full Of
Flowers on Debris Records in early 1987, they were on the
brink of being able to release their material on a nationwide
basis. The promo tape Cow later that year brought them
even closer.
The big moment for the Inspiral Carpets came finally in
July of 1988: Their first single, the Planecrash EP, was
released on Playtime Records on a 12" record and sold out
immediately. Unfortunately, a follow-up EP was delayed because
their label's distributor "Red Rhino" went bankrupt.
Feeling that they should be more in control of their own
material, the band formed their own record label, Cow Records,
in 1988. Their cow logo, which
also became the logo of Cow Records, was to appear on most
every future Inspiral Carpets release. It also provided a
financial resource for the band, since they could not have
maintained their own label without the money they earned through
merchandise. The shirts with the smoking cow and the infamous
slogan "Cool As Fuck" were best-sellers and
frequently got people in trouble with the police for violating
obscenity laws. Several fans were even arrested.
"Without the merchandising, which was paying for our food, we would have had to have signed to a major to continue." (Clint, in 1990)
In March 1989, the Trainsurfing EP became the first release on their own record label, yet it was also the last one featuring Holt and Swift. They decided to leave the band as their success was growing - since they were not keen on a professional career of touring and involving great amounts of work and time. Two other Mancunians, Tom Hingley (then singer with Too Much Texas) on vocals and bassist Martyn Walsh replaced the two in early 1989. Walsh did not reveal his real name until the release of the Inspirals' first LP, calling himself "Bungle".
"We're five individuals with totally different tastes, but with the same IQ and sense of humor. That's what makes it tick - we're all immature bastards." (Graham, in 1991)
Through the years, the band's sound had changed, and with the arrival of two new creative forces, they moved away from the trashy garage punk style that had made them famous. Their new efforts relied more on this very unique Inspirals sound that we all love: Tom's incredible voice, backed up by the great harmonies and melodies Clint gets out of his Italian Farfisa Compact Duo organ (not a Hammond, as many people still think), Graham's intelligent guitar play in the background, Martyn's great bass play and the thrilling and awesome rhythms Craig creates on drums. Their songs were (and are) whirling, harmony-drenched and delirious, sometimes a little eerie, sometimes punky, but mostly melancholic.
"Most bands are so unambitious...they don't realize the dichotomy you can have between lyrics and music, or putting on a show and putting something real across." (Tom, in 1991)
Their sometimes psychedelic sound was backed by intelligent, subtle, deep, sometimes angst-ridden, sometimes euphoric lyrics, depending on who wrote them. Every band member except Craig provided lyrics, each of them with their own personal touch.
"If you listen to another band with just one songwriter, it can limit their sound. But mine are syrupy and sentimental, Martyn writes stroppy, aggressive anthems for marching over Poland, Tom composes these ballads from the lunatic asylum and Graham's are more abstract. It keeps things fresh and colorful". (Clint, in 1994).
The first release of the new line-up was Joe, which was
to become a live favorite and the oldest track included on their Singles
collection years later. This success earned the band an
appearance on John Peel's Radio One show, which was
released on Strange Fruit Records. Find Out Why and Move
were the next two releases and greatly increased the band's
popularity.
At the end of the eighties, the once flourishing "Madchester"
scene had basically faded away and critics expected the Inspiral
Carpets to do the same. But they didn't. They had always been
going their very own way, not paying attention to trends, not
adapting to musical styles, not sucking up to the press (just
look at their haircuts and outfits back then - truly
non-conformists !). And so, instead of going down, the story of
the Inspiral Carpets was just about to really begin.
On May 7, 1990, the band signed their first major label contract
with the London independent label Mute Records. Free
records, tickets for an England game at Wembley Stadium, free
lunches and several cans of beer convinced the band to sign. They
did not abandon their own label, but have up to now never again
recorded anything on Cow Records.
Joe, Find Out Why and Move were then re-released on
Mute, after the anthems This Is How It Feels and She
Comes In The Fall had earned the band appearances on Top
Of The Pops, the 1990 Reading Festival and another
session on the John Peel Show. In April 1990, their debut
album Life struck the world of music, just coming short of
the Number 1 spot in the UK charts. It was a colorful and
brilliant, but also thoughtful album which focused on combining
mostly sad and disappointed-sounding lyrics with bright and poppy
melodies.
After the Island Head EP, meant to bridge the gap between
the first album and the second, The Beast Inside was released exactly one year later. It was a darker, brooding album
which concentrated on songs about domestic violence,
disappointment in life, rejection, seclusion, revenge, and fear.
The single releases were Caravan and Please Be Cruel.
In the meantime, Noel Gallagher, who is today a superstar
with his band Oasis, was a roadie with the Inspirals.
"My mate Noel in the back, he's a cunt, he is. Do you understand 'cunt' ? Ok, he's an arsehole. Erm...he's bad news. Listen, I love him, but he's not to be trusted." (Clint, in 1992 - see two pictures of Noel & him here)
1992's effort Revenge Of The Goldfish surprisingly marked the band's worst chart success up to that point, despite featuring such massive songs as Bitches Brew, Generations, Dragging Me Down (their biggest charts success for a single - #12) and Two Worlds Collide. However, they had in the meantime become stars abroad, for example in Portugal, Argentina and Germany. In 1994, the band was back with Devil Hopping, an album containing a lot of imagery, colorful notions and songs about various topics, such as the space craze of the 1960's, military and love. It was dubbed a return to the style of Life, the debut album, but the songs were more mature and deeper.
"We're pop, like the Archies... or the Partridge Family." (Clint, in 1994)
One of the single releases was I Want You, and one version featured backing vocals from Mark E. Smith of The Fall.
Mark E. Smith: "So why did I do this? 'cause I like the Inspirals, man. They're pure pop and they're brilliant and you should never knock them." Clint: "So will you play one or two dates with us, Mark ?" Mark E. Smith: "No." (1994)
Toward the end of 1995, the Greatest Hits album The Singles was released, containing nineteen of the Inspirals' finest tracks, some of which had never been out on albums. Little later, Mute Records announced the split between the company and the band on mutual agreement. Click here to read what Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq said about the Inspirals in the sleeve text for The Singles.
Tom then teamed up with Jerry Kelly of the Lotus
Eaters and two other guys to form The Lovers. Their
debut single, Work, Rest And Play, was released in March,
1997. Because the band refused to sign with a major label and
preferred to continue recording on their own label, Poof
Records, they never had their breakthrough, though. Towards
the end of 2000, Tom finally started out on a
solo career. His debut album, Keep Britain Untidy, featured just him and an acoustic guitar - a truly majestic piece
of work. His second album, Soulfire, was recorded with his new backing
band also called The Lovers.
Clint also released albums with his new band, The Clint Boon
Experience. Their first big hit,
White No Sugar, was released on his own Boonie Tunes
label in the middle of 1998 (published and distributed by BMG);
the debut album came out a little later. Afterwards the band
gathered a huge following everywhere, partly due to their duet
with Fran Healy of Travis on
the song Do What You Do (Earworm Song). Their
sound was still somewhat inspiralish (they also recorded a
hilarious cover version of This is How it Feels,
by the way), not only on the first album but also on their second
effort, Life In Transition. Before forming the Clint
Boon Experience, Clint had worked for
Granada Television, helped run a music workshop in Oldham,
assisted local bands and organized festivals. In the meantime, Graham
was assisting local bands, and Craig was said to have
joined another new Oldham group called Hustler. Martyn formed new
bands as well, first Replica, then DC-10.
Later there were rumors
that Clint had been offered a lot of money to reform the Inspirals
but rejected the offer. In May of 1999, Strange Fruit
Records released a new album with 21 tracks the band had
been recording in several BBC Radio 1 Sessions throughout the
years, most of which had previously been unreleased. Click
here to read what Tom
Hingley wrote in the sleeve text for the Radio 1
Sessions album.
And then, folks, in late fall of 2002, the band actually came back together to go on a Greatest Hits Tour in 2003 and perhaps release a few unreleased tracks. Let's see what the future holds for the lads.
"When we get to the gates of Heaven, we'll get our just rewards. Saint Peter will call us up and say, 'Inspiral Carpets - good songwriters, strong melodies and fine harmonies. Dodgy middle-eights, but we'll let you off. In you go.'" (Clint)
